Individual Influences On Diet
What individual factors influence our choice of food?
Individual factors that influence a person's diet refer to the personal reasons as why an individual chooses to eat or to not eat a certain food. The biological makeup of a person is the primary factor that influences individual dietary choices. Hunger, appetite and taste all play an important role in an individual's eating habits, each person responds to hunger in different ways. The palatability of a meal creates the pleasure that is experienced by the eater when dining. Factors such as taste, smell, texture and appearance are all considered when a person is faced with the choice of different food varieties.
Time can have huge impact on an individual as whether or not they adopt healthy eating habits. People who are young and/or living alone are especially tempted to choose convenience foods over those that benefit their health. Ready-to-cook meals and pre packed fruit and vegetables may be expensive but when a person is faced with many challenges and responsibilities in life, healthy eating habits can be neglected. Therefore people are willing to pay extra in order to balance the busy schedule that is known by many individual's today.
The psychological and emotional state of a person can influence eating habits. Stress can trigger changes in human behaviour and depending on the individual it can cause rapid increase in consuming unhealthy foods or a decrease in eating. Stress is believed to create a drop in motivation influencing a person to reduce their concern for gaining weight or decrease their appetite. Mood also plays an important role in food choices and positive attitudes may inspire healthy options while negative attitudes will have the opposite effect creating a desire for unhealthy food preferences.
The upbringing and family background of a person has a huge influence on their everyday diet. Children who are introduced to unhealthy eating choices earlier on in life are more likely to indulge in bad eating habits later on as opposed to those who have enjoyed healthy eating habits from a young age. Not being introduced to a large variety of nutritious foods at a young age can evolve into fussy eating habits supporting unhealthy eating. A child that is introduced to a healthy food routine earlier in life will most likely continue this routine into the future. A healthy food routine consists of three structured meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner. People who do not have a set eating plan each day are more likely to snack on unhealthy food and drink choices throughout the day instead of consuming three balanced main meals.
Other important factors that influence food choice include gender, age, income level, genetics and the presence of any eating disorders. Someone who suffers from any health problems such as diabetes or a food allergy may also have restricted food choices.
Time can have huge impact on an individual as whether or not they adopt healthy eating habits. People who are young and/or living alone are especially tempted to choose convenience foods over those that benefit their health. Ready-to-cook meals and pre packed fruit and vegetables may be expensive but when a person is faced with many challenges and responsibilities in life, healthy eating habits can be neglected. Therefore people are willing to pay extra in order to balance the busy schedule that is known by many individual's today.
The psychological and emotional state of a person can influence eating habits. Stress can trigger changes in human behaviour and depending on the individual it can cause rapid increase in consuming unhealthy foods or a decrease in eating. Stress is believed to create a drop in motivation influencing a person to reduce their concern for gaining weight or decrease their appetite. Mood also plays an important role in food choices and positive attitudes may inspire healthy options while negative attitudes will have the opposite effect creating a desire for unhealthy food preferences.
The upbringing and family background of a person has a huge influence on their everyday diet. Children who are introduced to unhealthy eating choices earlier on in life are more likely to indulge in bad eating habits later on as opposed to those who have enjoyed healthy eating habits from a young age. Not being introduced to a large variety of nutritious foods at a young age can evolve into fussy eating habits supporting unhealthy eating. A child that is introduced to a healthy food routine earlier in life will most likely continue this routine into the future. A healthy food routine consists of three structured meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner. People who do not have a set eating plan each day are more likely to snack on unhealthy food and drink choices throughout the day instead of consuming three balanced main meals.
Other important factors that influence food choice include gender, age, income level, genetics and the presence of any eating disorders. Someone who suffers from any health problems such as diabetes or a food allergy may also have restricted food choices.